


Severus Snipe

by Gelsey



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble Sequence, F/M, sshg_giftfest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-26
Updated: 2015-08-26
Packaged: 2018-04-17 07:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4658445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gelsey/pseuds/Gelsey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rolf and Luna take Hermione snipe hunting. She catches a different sort of snipe than she intended.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Severus Snipe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Carley9](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Carley9).



> Written in 2014 for the sshg_promptfest on LJ. Written for carley9. Drabble series.

Hermione stared at her surroundings in quiet dismay. She’d once sworn to never go camping again. Camping was less than her favorite thing, putting it mildly, and she was at a loss as to how she’d agreed to go.

Luna was hard to resist when she wanted something, though. “Please, Hermione. I really like Rolf, but I don’t want to be out there all alone with him yet,” she’d begged. The nervous expression cinched it, especially since Hermione knew that Luna had little experience with the opposite sex, let alone relationships.

So here she was, camping, a third wheel chaperone.

***

Rolf made her feel welcome, though he very well could have resented Hermione’s presence. He seemed like a nice young man, well-suited to Luna in many ways.

They went for a hike, and Hermione made certain to stay ahead or behind enough to give the two privacy, even though all they seemed to do was make eyes at each other. It was almost too sweet for her taste, but Luna being so pleased made Hermione happy.

The day went quickly, and dark had fallen and the marshmallows had made an appearance when Rolf made his suggestion:

“Let’s go snipe hunting.”

***

Hermione’s eyebrow raised in utter skepticism even as Luna clapped her hands, delighted.

“If you’re trying to get rid of me, you don’t have to send me on a snipe hunt, you know,” Hermione said crossly, folding her arms in front of her.

Rolf looked taken aback and a bit confused. “We’re not trying to get rid of you,” he protested. “We – my family and I – we always go on snipe hunts when we go camping.”

“You mean there are really snipes?” Her other eyebrow rose now.

“Of course there are, Hermione,” Luna said. 

“Of course there are.” Hermione sighed.

***

So they went snipe hunting, complete with burlap sacks and special animal calls that Rolf had in his bag. While they got those supplies together, the two magizoologists filled Hermione in on snipes.

They were not the imaginary creature of her practical joke experience, or even the shore birds of the same name; no, they were a shy magical bird, long of leg and neck, usually shades of grey to blend in with the shadows, that generally bestowed luck upon the catcher.

_Luck, yeah, right_ , Hermione thought wryly as she ventured out of camp, separating from her other two companions.

***

Feeling ridiculous and really hoping Rolf wasn’t playing a prank on her (though Luna wouldn’t stand for that kind of teasing, would she?), Hermione put the call to her lips and blew.

A silky sounding note escaped, surprisingly melodic. “Here, snipe snipe snipe,” she called. In the distance, she could hear Rolf and Luna calling too, which made her feel mildly less stupid. She blew on it again, following it up each time with a verbal enticement.

_What had she gotten herself talked into?_ she wondered, stopping and sighing loudly.

It was then she heard the silky call repeated back.

***

Severus had been wandering around, hunting bugs in the dark. Life as a snipe wasn’t as bad as one might think. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t hunted bugs in his human life, after all, though granted he’d never eaten them before he’d been turned into a snipe in a blitz attack after the war had supposedly ended.

It was better than a snake; he’d never felt the same about snakes since seeing Nagini eat people.

It was, at least, peaceful, with no one constantly calling his name or trying to catch him doing something wrong.

“Here, snipe snipe snipe.”

***

Oh, bugger.

His first reaction was panic, for initially he thought he’d heard, “Snape Snape Snape.” This was, of course, ridiculous. No one knew what had happened to him, and thus no one was out to get him.

Just because the last time he heard something like that was out of Bellatrix’s mouth didn’t mean he had to panic.

His wings fluttered, and he groomed the feathers with his beak, finding the action soothing. He heard the snipe call and the voice, oddly familiar, again, and some others in the distance. 

Curious now rather than afraid, he went to investigate.

***

He watched the witch closely, his all-black body even better suited to hiding than most of his snipe-brethren’s more shadowy greys. She looked different now, especially through a bird’s eye, but after a time of watching and listening, Severus Snipe knew whom he was looking at.

It was none other than Hermione Granger, know-it-all sidekick of the Boy Who Lived.

It was perhaps the shock at seeing someone so familiar, even though it was someone who rather annoyed him most days, snipe hunting of all things, that distracted him.

Before he realized it, he’d called back to her in response.

***

Severus found himself peering at Hermione Granger. He tilted his head, eyeing her curiously.

“So you do exist,” she murmured, sounding pleased. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to just hop into my sack, would you? I’d love to prove to Luna and Rolf that I found you.”

Snape fluttered closer. Though initially skeptical and reminded of his dislike of her, he rolled the notion of “know-it-all” back through his head again.

Perhaps this could be lucky for him. He’d given up on turning back a long time ago; but maybe now....

He hopped up onto her outstretched hand.

***

They traveled quietly back to the campsite. Hermione kept looking at him, torn between suspicion and wonder that she was carrying some strange magical creature with her, and it was willing.

They just never acted like that. Something was entirely too strange. Especially since this creature was supposed to be shy, and here it was riding happily on her arm, if the satisfied-sounding churring noise counted as happy.

“Look at what I found,” she told Luna and Rolf when they finally came back to camp, looking a little more bedraggled than necessary. She held out her arm proudly and smirked.

***

The couple boggled at the odd appearance of the snipe, which both said they’d never seen before. They showed her the one they’d caught, and it was indeed subtly different with the coloring and even faintly in the shape of the beak, she thought, though perhaps that was the flickering firelight.

She could swear, however, there was more of a bump and curve of her snipe’s beak than theirs. It niggled at her brain, but she didn’t know why.

Everyone turned in for the night. They released both birds, but Hermione’s snipe fluffed its feathers near her pillow and stayed.

***

Hermione regretted bringing the bird home. Every morning she woke to a mess – cereal, lotion, potions ingredients, you name it.

It didn’t matter how much she scolded. The snipe only looked down its beak at her, as if _she_ were doing something wrong. 

It went on for a month, though she resisted getting rid of the haughty bird. It was, despite all, good company.

Perhaps it was right, she thought, when she woke up one morning to the message of:

HELP ME. SEVERUS SNAPE

scrawled out in inky footprints over a mess consisting of every piece of parchment she owned.

***

Severus thought she would never get his messages. Admittedly some of the early attempts at spelling things out were less than stellar, though he was inclined to blame her for failing to understand. _Brightest witch of her age, ha_ , he scoffed to himself in birdy chirps of disgust when she had gone to work for the day.

Though it did not take long, once he finally, painstakingly, got the message written out, for her to look up the spell to change him back and perform it. He was impressed despite himself – especially when he was human again, with everything intact.

***

Hermione still gaped despite knowing whom it was going to be. Severus Snape had been presumed dead or run away for a long time. Now he was standing, quite naked, in her living room, looking at his splayed fingers as if he’d just discovered the grandest invention in all the world.

“Finally,” he said. His voice was oddly reminiscent of the silky, melodic call of the snipe he had been. 

She huffed at him, much like she had when he was still a bird, and threw a blanket at him before stomping out of the room.

“You’re welcome, Severus Snipe!”

***

He owled her back the blanket, along with a terse thank-you note.

She responded with questions about how he’d ended up a snipe.

He called her nosy. She called him rude. 

Before they knew it, they’d been corresponding for six months and meeting at least once a week for nearly three months. 

It took Luna and Rolf inviting them to their wedding with one invitation to make Hermione realize that perhaps they were more than friends, surprisingly enough.

Or perhaps not so surprisingly, Severus thought with fond exasperation, remembering how long it took her to find his messages for help.

***

One could not fault Hermione for a course of action once she was aware of something, however. Swiftly, she’d decided just what she was going to do about this turn of events in her life and her heart. For she found herself much more fond of Severus than she’d ever thought she would be.

Fond meaning she was crazy in love with him, of course. His Slytherin qualities seemed to have rubbed off on her just a little.

She showed up at his apothecary in Hogsmeade, a burlap sack over one arm and the animal call from Rolf in hand.

***

Leaning against the door to his backroom, she blew on the call. He looked up, recognizing it.

“Here, snipe snipe snipe,” she said teasingly, shaking the sack at him. 

“And what is this?” he drawled, a faint smile on his lips.

“I’m snipe hunting,” she informed him. “Would you care to hop in my sack, Severus Snipe? I think I’d like to take you home and keep you.”

He chuckled quietly, a sound she’d come to treasure, and for the first time, he bent his head to kiss her.

The Snipe had found his mate and his roost at last.


End file.
